After cleaning up, I walked down the living quarters' hallway, crossed the expansive great hall, and continued down to the doors associated with the pack offices. Unlike my father's office, Alpha Faelon did not have security guards positioned outside his office. In fact, the open door implied that all casual observers were welcome. The small gesture was quite a simple, quiet, and powerful statement.

Alpha Faelon trusts his pack members.

Must be nice.

As I tried to suppress the feelings coiling in my stomach, I raised my fist to his door and rapped the back of my knuckles loudly.

"Zara." Alpha Faelon's head lifted from the papers he looked over at his desk and he offered a tight smile.

"Raina told me to come see you, Sir." I hovered in the doorway.

"Come in." He waved his hand at one of the chairs facing his desk.

Alpha Faelon's office could not have been more different than my father's. While my father's office held a commanding large desk, dark, brooding furniture choices, and muted lighting, The office I stood outside had floor-to-ceiling windows that flooded the room with light. Random piles of papers littered his desk and family pictures covered one wall. I smiled at the many smaller versions of Raina and Lucus.

"Are you all right?" His eyes scanned over me. I needed a second before I comprehended that he meant physically, after being contained.

"Yes, everything was... fine."

For my first and hopefully only prison sentence.

"Everyone was very hospitable, considering..." my voice trailed off as I pressed my hands into my lap.

"Good." He nodded, making his intentions of why I sat in his office apparent, "I heard you spoke with the prisoner, that's why I shortened your sentence and sent Lucus to release you."

He wants inside information.

My mouth dried and I swallowed at the constriction in my throat.

"There's not much to tell." My fingers curled around the charms on my necklace, triggering the mental image of the rogue's tattoo. "He said they didn't attack the caravan to kill me though."

"And you believe him?" His eyebrows lifted.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't have any reason to believe him, but don't any not to either."

Faelon's broad shoulders sat back in his seat and he hummed. "Did you recognize him?"

I shook my head silently, rolling the charms in the pads of my fingers. Handsome or not, the rogue could have been no one or anyone, and I wouldn't have known.

Handsome? I'm reading too many toxic love stories.

"I don't want to tell anyone how to do their job, but maybe if I talked to him instead of Lucus' torture..." My voice trailed as his chin lifted and eyes narrowed, so I added, "Or not."

"After your departure, he's no longer my concern." He sat back in his chair with a sigh that sagged him down in his seat. "It is not my place to inform you, but your father is going to intercept your travels south east, to pick up the rogue."

"My father?" I squeezed my fists, remembering Baron's lingering presence for my father's 'status update.' Alpha Faelon nodded as a faraway look came over his eyes, like they focused on nothing in particular.

"Your father and I go very far back." He spoke after a few moments of silence, lifting a fist to his chin. "I would not consider us friendly, more political allies."

"He's not known for his friendliness." I tried to pass the comment off as a sarcastic joke but all that tumbled out of my mouth was sheer bitterness.

"You above all others understand that." He sighed, shifting his dark eyes down to his hands. "There are certain... aspects of your upbringing that I disagree with. But, we had an agreement, which I thought you'd be pleased with."

"Agreement?" I tilted my head to the side. My father never mentioned any agreements with the Northern territory, particularly any that involved me.

Being such a great, open source site of public information that he is.

I rolled my eyes at the thought.

"You and Lucus," Faelon stated simply, clasping his hands over his desk.

I tried not to let my face fall in dismay at his response.

Oh, that agreement.

"Even if you aren't the Moon Goddess' natural choice, you are the right one. You belong here, Zara, within a family." His words, one in particular, hit me hard. Striking a deep nerve, I swallowed against the dryness creeping up the back of my throat.

Family.

Tears rose in my eyes because they were the embodiment of a family. Not Lucus and Raina, he was offering his entire pack to me. The weight of that responsibility sank in my stomach like a pile of bricks.

I don't deserve it, not after attacking them.

"Alpha Faelon..." My words choked in my throat as my eyes filled up with tears. "I'm so sorry about what happened. Your pack has been nothing but accommodating, and I-"

"Wolves are notoriously difficult to control within the first few months," he interrupted with a firm but knowing smile. "No one here thinks it was intentional, including Idris and Arlo."

I didn't answer, only pressed my mouth closed.

"Cassius would be angry to hear this but Lumi's suppression is another area where your father and I disagree." He looked at me intently, as if he demanded that I not share this information with anyone else.

Yet, he also wore a look deeper look, which furrowed his expression into wrinkles that aged his appearance.

I can't read it... Sympathy, mixed with... guilt? Remorse?

"I won't say anything," I whispered.

He seemed to believe me, since the lines of concern etching his expression relaxed. He glanced out the windows and remained silent for a few moments. 

During his silence, reality hit me.

But I'm not Lucus' choice.

"Like any alpha..." He shifted his gaze away from the windows and looked at me. "I want to protect my pack, which I hope will include you some day."

"Protection? From what?" I assumed general security and protection was his answer, but wanted to hear his words.

What he said next was further than what I imagined, "Your father."

"My-my -" I stammered nervously at what Alpha Faelon implied. I didn't have much chance to dwell on this. His eyes snapped from my face to somewhere behind him, and he smiled. I turned around and saw -

He thinks... my father is a... threat!? No, not a threat. The biggest threat.

I didn't have much chance to dwell on this. His eyes snapped from my face to over my shoulder, and he smiled. I turned around and saw -

"Luna Cassandra." I smiled at her commanding presence. Even standing in a doorway, she was impressive. Her long hair was braided down her back and her tailored shirt and pants were fitted yet casual. Her entire look radiated beautiful effortlessness.

"Cassandra." She returned Faelen's smile then gave me one.

"Zara." Alpha Faelon's voice pulled me back in his direction. "I encourage you to give considerable thought to what we discussed."

"I will," I replied with a shaky smile because my lips trembled. "I promise."

"Good." He nodded. "Cassandra would like to speak with you as well."

Lovely.

I stood up, nodded at Alpha Faelon, and exited his office behind Cassandra's long, graceful steps. Her shin-length, black leather boots clicked over the floors.

"Don't worry," she assured me with a soft squeeze on my shoulder. "It won't be as heavy a conversation as the one you left."

"I appreciate that." I released a sigh.

"I thought we could take a walk before you head into your kitchen duties." She guided me further down the hallway. She first showed me four rooms, nondescript meeting rooms with large tables and flat screen televisions mounted on the walls.

"One for each territory, each separate for private communications," she explained.

We continued to the next set of doors. I paused at the excited sounds that came from inside, and glanced at Cassandra. She nodded with a smile and opened the door. Shrill laughs of delight erupted at her presence.

"This is our nursery and school for younger pups." Cassandra flashed the first genuine smile I'd seen spread across her entire face, relaxing her professional tour guide mask. Eight small children sat in a circle around a young woman. She was seated, with a large stack of books at her side, and smiled at us.

"Children." She clapped her hands and sixteen curious eyes were on me. "We have guests."

"Hi everyone." Having zero experience with children, I tried my best to sound friendly.

"How about a story?" The gleam in the teacher's eyes put a smile on my face since I knew what came next. Her question set of a flurry of activity as the children nodded and giggled,

"All of our Silverback wolves were originally black," she started, looking around the enraptured group and flipping through an illustrated book. "A pack of all white wolves lived on the other side of the sea, in an even further Northern territory. Two pups, one male and one female, were playing out on the ice one summer day. The iceberg they were on broke off, separating them from their pack. The pups floated around the sea for days and arrived here. Our pack took them in as our own and they lived the rest of their days with us. Since then, all our wolves have been gray."

"Thank you." My chest swelled with warmth and she shot me a wink.

As the teacher explained the fable further, Cassandra nodded and guided me to the door.

"As Luna, I'm responsible for running the daycare operations and guiding their education." Cassandra murmured as we exited. "As well as the pack services departments like cleaning, landscaping, and the kitchen. These are all typical duties that are performed by the Silverback Luna, but the preschool is particularly important to me because that's our future."

"We're a small pack," she continued as we walked to the kitchen. "But I hope you have seen if there's a place for you here."

"I appreciate you showing me -" I started when a familiar set of glinting dark eyes caught my attention.

"Gamma Jameson." My lips wavered into a tight smile.

Dressed down in a T-shirt and sweatpants, he stood outside Alpha Faelon's office next to Beta Anders. The sunlight's shadows etched around the muscles where his shoulder met his biceps. His tall frame leaned against the door frame and his hooded, dark eyes looked at me as if I was his next meal.

"Like what you see?" He had a habit of asking that question again, as if I humored him with a reply. The smirk on his lips hadn't disguised the fact he had more than one intention with his words.

I stuck to my original answer. "Very impressive." I flashed him a smile, then shifted my eyes back to Luna Cassandra. An amused glint flashed in her eyes, which she buried in a blink"

"I will," I promised again. My feet hadn't taken two steps into the kitchen when Lucus bounded out and nearly ran me over.

I took a few steps to steady myself, then greeted him with, "Lucus, hi." A twinge twisted in my stomach as I suppressed the thought I wanted to voice.

Done torturing prisoners?

"Hi." He wore a flustered look on his red-cheeked face and his eyes cast down. His hair was tousled and his cheeks and lips were both tinged pink. His appearance set off warning bells in the back of my mind and Lumi's teeth bared as he brushed past us quickly.

He's up to something.

I frowned as I questioned what he was doing in the kitchen. The way goosebumps raised on my forearms told me I wasn't going to like the answer.

Later that evening, I flipped over and over in my bed like a sausage roll. Sweat soaked my skin, my limbs twitched, and my heart thundered in my chest.

After I got a tour of and meal schedule for the kitchen, my thoughts spun when I laid down to sleep that night. My mind tumbled thinking about Lucus hiding information from me, the rogue knowing me, and Faelon's offer. They clashed together but, without a connection between them, I was left with a headache.

The weight of Alpha Faelon's words hung heavy in my mind, like a thick, dark, gray storm cloud that didn't release its rains. Reminders surrounded me, from the chill, dry night air to the sheets tangled around my legs to the back of my mind, where Lumi's thoughts lingered.

The Luna activities and responsibilities that Cassandra had shown me stung in my memory like a thorn. The eyes of the children, I mean pups, stared up at me curiously like I was a new friend.

Future.

They offered me a future.

Here, with them. Their future.

They offered to make their pack, their family, mine.

And with that offer, I'd be released from my oppressive father. That offer was more than I could have ever dreamed of. It was so tempting that my heart swelled with warmth, salivating at the opportunity.

But why doesn't it feel right?

I didn't need anyone else to answer that. The truth twisted my insides until they were nauseous.

Because I'm not Lucus' choice. It would be like living a lie.

I rolled over, groaning and knowing I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight

The next six days managed to be horrendous and life-changing for my self-development. My kitchen duties were a worse sentence than the holding cells. To the kitchen staff's detriment, we discovered that I knew nothing about cooking or baking and was useless at both... and that all the smoke detectors in the packhouse were in working conditions.

That was breakfast, by the way.

Lou, short for Louisa, was a lovely, older woman who ran the kitchen with kindness and a finite amount of patience. It ran out by lunchtime on day 1, when I forgot the leavening ingredients and made an entire bread order into pancakes.

"I think I'm being punished," she grumbled, running her hands through her gray curls.

But I cleaned, so I washed dishes, polished silverware, and folded clean linens. Every day, I repeated these tasks hours before and after meals, which I appreciated because I wasn't ready to interact with and face the pack yet. The work was boring and monotonous but my hands stayed busy... and wrinkled from all the dish water.

My only joy was training with Raina in the mornings and at dusk. After Lumi's incident, we trained solo to suppress her reaction to male wolves. She and I were both grateful for every hour that we trained with Raina. Every day that passed, we became more aware that our time in the Northern territory expired sooner.

What I most appreciated about Raina was how she understood how female wolves needed to be more tactical in our offensive attacks. She showed me trick after trick for different scenarios against larger, dominant male wolves. Not that I memorized all of them, but the exposure alone was a learning experience and boosted my confidence. I moved less clumsily or hesitantly in Lumi's form.

Raina's investment made me feel like despite my smaller size, Lumi and I had a fighting chance.

Lumi behaved as well. She respected Raina and Mist enough not to tear them to shreds. Every day I grew stronger fighting in her form. After each session, Raina and I let our wolves have control and ran to their hearts' content over the Northern territories' open fields.

Lumi relished in her new found freedom and companionship, but remained reserved on her best behavior. The release of control was useful practice for me, making me less jittery and uncomfortable sitting back and watching Lumi be Lumi. By the end of the last week, I could maintain control of Lumi and check my emotions.

The kitchen had a small staff of Lou as head chef and her daughter Aspen. I recognized her as the young girl who frowned at me during the competition. She was the kitchen's baker and produced, among other things, the amazing bread from our first dinner.

Tall, with thin, spindly, deer-like limbs and strong muscles, Aspen's body looked like a model compared to mine. Her darker skin looked like brown sugar to my white and her long, deft fingers worked like magic.

Two hours into my first shift, I realized that Aspen was Lucus' mate. It was evident by the first warm look he gave her, rubbing his thumb over his lower lip.

Like he never wants to look at anyone else ever again.

His random presence in the kitchen, multiple times a day, got annoying, fast.

Five days and one meal later, I confronted Lucus. I wasn't going to say anything at all until I walked around the corner from the sink with a stack of clean dishes and found them making out in the pantry. Pressing Aspen flush up against a shelf of canned beans, his hands clutched her lower back while their mouths sucked like they were each other's oxygen source.

Can't express what seeing that, compared to my kiss, does for my ego.

I set the dishes down with a sigh. The clattering sound of the utensils caused Aspen to break away. She didn't notice me and Lucus' eyes trained on her as if nothing else existed in this world. My chest tugged when I realized that the way he looked at me before and during our date was nothing in comparison.

"Future Alpha Lucus." Aspen's dark eyes beamed stars up at him.

He smiled, cupped his hands around her face, and stroked her cheeks. They weren't even discreet about their make out sessions at this point, standing in between open pantry shelves. Both were oblivious to the fact I stared at them.

"I told you, love." he said in a hushed voice as his large thumbs traced the lines of her jaw. "You don't need to call me that. I'm Lucus... Your Lucus."

Love? I'm sure if he would've told me then I would ship them but...

Grunting, I turned back to the sink. After I rolled my eyes, I dropped a metal bowl into the sink. They jumped apart at the clanging sounds, as if they now saw me.

"Zara." Lucus raised his eyes to mine as they walked out.

"Hi, Lucus." I pushed past him and grabbed another set of dirty dishes off a nearby counter. "Torture any more people today?"

"It's not how it looks, Zara." His eyes narrowed as I passed him again, tossing more dishes into the sink. I narrowed mine back as Aspen wiped her palms over her apron.

Well, now that's purposely vague.

"Don't mind me. Please, go back to sucking on and petting Aspen's face like it's not obvious that she is your mate." I kept my back turned to him, filling the sink with soap, and starting this round with a ladle.

"Zara." He placed a hand on my shoulder, which I shrugged off. "Please, I didn't -"

"Didn't want to tell me the truth." I whirled around, swung the ladle at him to put some distance between us, and splashed a few water drops onto his chest. "Lucus, what do you want?"

"I want to serve my pack the best I can," he replied.

While I believed him, I needed to hear more than vague expectations of him. No, at this point, I deserved more than that. Ladle on my hip, I tilted my head. "And how do you think that should be accomplished?"

"My father thinks a strategic -" he started.

"Screw your father!" Interrupting his pathetic answer, I jabbed his chest with the ladle. He didn't even flinch.

Ugh. Stupid wolf muscles.

"I mean, forget what he thinks." I poked harder, to no reaction. "It's your life Lucus, what do you want?"

Lucus didn't say anything. He didn't need to because his actions spoke volumes. His eyes shifted over to Aspen, softening the frown he wore.

"I don't want or need to hear you say any more," I muttered, turning my back on him. My view of the dirty dishes in the sink blurred with tears and my lower lip trembled. I refused to let them fall, sniffling and breathing until I was calm.

The dishes were little comfort, but did keep me distracted. I had two hours left in my last kitchen shift today. Despite five more scheduled days here, we now overstayed our welcome.

Time to go.